


Stay

by writersstudy



Category: A.C.E (Beat Interactive Band)
Genre: Alcohol Poisoning, Cheating, Donghun makes a lot of stupid decisions, He's not the bad guy though, M/M, Medical Inaccuracies, Painkiller Overdose, Suicidal Ideation, Suicide Attempt, drug overdose
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-24
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-04-07 06:30:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14074962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writersstudy/pseuds/writersstudy
Summary: “You, who used to love meYou, who used to only look at meI don’t want to believe that you’re no longer with meI don’t wanna lose youI need you, don’t let go of my hand”Stay - KNK





	Stay

Donghun whistled to himself as he rode the elevator up to the third floor. He had managed to get out of work a few hours early and was excited to surprise his husband by getting home at 10:30 instead of midnight. Humming to himself, he unlocked the door to the apartment and stepped inside. He shrugged his coat off and placed his shoes in the rack before padding down the hall to his and Sehyoon’s bedroom. He paused in the hallway when he heard an odd noise from the bedroom. It sounded almost like a creak. Donghun sighed, already resigning himself to what he knew he was going to walk in on.

And he was right, of course. He carefully nudged the door open, grateful that he’d just oiled the hinges, to find Sehyoon on top of and making out with his best friend. Donghun stood and watched them for a minute, waiting to see if either would even notice him. Eventually, Byeongkwan pulled back, seemingly going for the hem of Sehyoon’s shirt, and caught sight of Donghun in the doorway.

“Uh, hyung,” he stammered, sitting up, “you’re home early.” Sehyoon finally looked up, eyes wide at the realization that they’d been caught, and Donghun just left the room.

“I’ll, uh, I’ll be back,” Sehyoon stammered, getting up and following his husband down the hallway. Donghun was in the kitchen, moving around quietly as he put away dishes.

“Hyung,” Sehyoon started, but Donghun just shook his head.

“How long?” the elder asked softly. Sehyoon bit his lip.

“Just a few weeks,” he lied. Donghun made a noise of acknowledgment.

“Does he make you happy?” he asked, finally turning around.

“What?” Sehyoon asked, startled by the question.

“Does he make you happy?” Donghun asked again, drying his hands on a towel, “just answer the question.”

“I-I guess,” Sehyoon answered uncertainly, “he makes me feel a lot calmer, quiets all the noise.” Donghun nodded in understanding.

“Okay,” he said, placing his hands on the counter across from Sehyoon, “here’s the deal. You can keep doing...whatever, with Byeongkwan, as long as you don’t leave me. That’s all I ask.”

“Donghun hyung,” Sehyoon tried to protest him but the elder cut him off.

“I’m going to Junhee’s,” Donghun said, heading toward the door again, “don’t wait up.” And with that, he left.

=====

“What do we got?” the nurse asked, grabbing onto the side of the stretcher and helping guide it through the ER.

“Male in his mid-twenties, overdose,” the paramedic read off his chart, “his friend came with him, but he’s pretty much mid-panic attack.” The nurse looked back to see the other paramedic guiding a blonde-haired man to a chair in the waiting area. She then turned to one of the other nurses.

“Yuchan, see if you can figure out from the friend what exactly he took,” she ordered. The younger nurse nodded and made his way over to where the man’s friend was sitting in the waiting area.

“Can I get you anything to help you calm down?” he asked kindly, “water maybe?” The blonde man shook his head and forced himself to slow his breathing.

“I-I’m okay,” he said, “Is Donghun…?” The nurse sat in the chair next to him.

“They’re going to pump your friend’s stomach, but it will help us a lot if we know what he took,” he said. The blonde nodded.

“H-He’s been staying w-with me since last week,” he started shakily, “he’s having...m-marital problems. I h-had to go to work and I thought he w-would be fine. When I g-got home, he was - he was on the floor i-in the kitchen a-and there were a c-couple bottles, soju bottles on the ground a-and this.” He pulled a pill bottle out of his pocket and passed it to the nurse. It was acetaminophen.

“I don’t know how many he took, but it was mostly full this morning and there weren’t that many on the ground,” he said quietly. The nurse pocketed the bottle.

“Can I give you a form to fill out with all his information?” he asked, “it’ll help us a lot to be able to access his medical records and contact his family.” The man nodded, sniffling slightly and wiping his face. The nurse got up and went over to the desk, coming back with a clipboard and a pen.

“I’ll come find you when we have an update,” he promised before taking his leave. Once back in the trauma room, he relayed the information to the head nurse, who took the pill bottle from him and examined it.

“I thought as much,” she commented, “the sooner we can get his information, the better.”

“His friend is filling it out now,” the younger nurse said, “I’ll go check on him.” He left the room again to find the friend pacing around the waiting area on the phone. He saw him and held up the completed form.

“Maybe you’ll have more luck getting through to his husband,” he said darkly before turning and walking out the door of the ER, still on the phone.

“I know you’re probably off fucking your mistress or whatever, you piece of shit, but you need to put your dick away and get to the hospital,” he heard him spit into the phone as he walked out, “Donghun tried to fucking kill himself.”

=====

“How was your week?” Donghun asked tentatively as he walked into the kitchen. It was the first time he and Sehyoon had been home together in weeks.

“Fine,” the younger said shortly, “yours?”

“Fine,” Donghun echoed, “I, uh, I was wondering if you would want to...to stay home tonight. I’ll make dinner.” Sehyoon shrugged.

“Byeongkwan’s out of town, so I’ll be home anyway,” he said, “I have to go to work. I’ll see you tonight.” Donghun nodded, stepping back to let his husband pass.

“Oh! Before I forget,” he said, “can you look into picking up an extra shift? The heating bill is going to go up and I’m maxed out on hours.”

“Yeah, sure,” Sehyoon said absently as he pulled on his coat.

Fourteen hours later, Donghun was setting the dishes on the table and lighting a candle. Sehyoon was due home any minute and he was excited to finally have a night alone with his husband. It wasn’t that he necessarily regretted giving him and Byeongkwan a pass, considering how much calmer Sehyoon had seemed as of late, but he was beginning to get lonely.

The clock hit 8:30 and there was still no sign of Sehyoon. Donghun checked his phone in case he had missed a message, but there was nothing.

9:00.

9:30.

10:00.

10:30.

11:00.

11:30.

Dinner had long gone cold, but Donghun was holding out hope. It was when the clock finally struck midnight that he gave up. With a sigh, he stood and started cleaning the table. He wrapped the plates and stuck them in the fridge. His chest ached and he fought the urge to cry as he curled up in the big empty bed. To distract himself, he opened Snapchat and decided to clear out his stories. He wasn’t really paying attention until he caught Byeongkwan’s at the last second. When he reopened it, he saw the shorter man’s face. He was obviously laying in bed, as it was captioned “thankful to be back in Seoul.” That wasn’t what had gotten Donghun’s attention though. No, what had caught his eye was the tuft of dark hair in the bottom corner of the photo. He would recognize that haircut anywhere.

Sehyoon had blown off their anniversary to go fuck Byeongkwan and Donghun couldn’t hold the tears back anymore.

=====

“Jun!” Junhee spun around when he heard someone call his name, confused look melting into a glare when he saw Sehyoon and Byeongkwan rushing into the ER, “I got your message. What the hell happened?”

“You,” the blonde man barked out, shoving Sehyoon’s chest, “you fucking happened. You and this...this slut.” He cast a look of disgust at Byeongkwan, who opened his mouth in offense.

“Hey, this has nothing to do with him,” Sehyoon said, shoving Junhee back.

“Your husband tried to fucking off himself because you’ve been cheating on him for well over a year but it has nothing to do with your mistress, of course not,” Junhee retorted sarcastically.

“He said he was fine with it!” Sehyoon protested. Junhee scoffed.

“Because we all know that Donghun never puts other people’s happiness before his own,” he snarked, “he’s never done that before, not once.” Sehyoon sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Look, I made a mistake -”

“Oh, it’s a _mistake_ now?” Junhee interrupted, “was it a mistake twenty minutes ago when you were balls deep?” Sehyoon’s jaw tightened and Junhee watched a vein pop in his forehead.

“Donghun could have said something at any time,” he tried to protest, but he was cut off when his head snapped to the side. Junhee had punched him. One of the nurses, the same one he’d spoken to earlier, ran over and pulled him off, still swinging.

“You’re a fucking piece of shit, Kim Sehyoon,” he screamed as the man dragged him toward the nurses station, “you left him alone on your fucking anniversary and now he’s gonna fucking die.” He started sobbing as the nurse pulled him into an exam room and shut the door.

=====

“Hyung! How was last night?” Junhee asked when he picked up the phone, in the process of clocking out of his shift.

“Can I pick you up?” the older man asked, uncharacteristically quiet.

“Yeah, sure,” Junhee replied, becoming concerned, “is everything okay?”

“I’m fine,” Donghun said, but he said it so listlessly that Junhee knew it was a lie. He waited a moment for the elder to speak again.

“I’m just a little worried that if I keep driving around by myself, I’m going to accidentally on purpose turn the wrong way and steer myself off a bridge.” Junhee slammed his locker shut, wincing as the sound rang around the locker room.

“Do you need me to take you somewhere?” he asked. He’d had to commit Donghun for a weekend once when they were in college and he would gladly do it again if his best friend needed it.

“No,” the elder said after a pause, “I just need to not be alone for a while.”

“Okay,” Junhee said agreeably, “I’m walking outside now, okay?” Donghun hummed. When Junhee walked out of the restaurant, he found the elder’s car parked right in front. He got in and buckled himself before leaning over the console and hugging his best friend.

“I got you, okay?” he whispered.

“Sehyoon’s been cheating on me since last year and I’ve been letting him and he left me alone on our anniversary to go and fuck his boytoy,” Donghun said quietly after a minute. Junhee pulled away to look at the elder and sighed.

“Okay,” he said, “let’s go back to mine and we’ll figure something out.”

=====

“So what was all that about?” the nurse, Yuchan, asked as he bandaged Junhee’s hand.

“That’s Donghun’s husband and his husband’s boyfriend,” the blonde said miserably, “they’ve been sleeping together for over a year. He found out a few months ago, but he’s so uselessly in love with Sehyoon that he told him he could keep doing it as long as they stayed together. Their anniversary was last week and Sehyoon told him he’d be home and he went and stayed the night with his boytoy instead. Donghun’s been staying at mine because he didn’t feel safe staying alone but he didn’t want to be committed. I thought he’d be fine on his own for a few hours and...here we are.” Yuchan hummed in acknowledgement as he put away his roll of cotton and pulled out a roll of colored fiberglass. He wrapped the purple material around Junhee’s hand and wrist until he felt satisfied that it was enough.

“If it makes you feel any better,” he said as he sat back and started collecting his supplies, “you broke his nose and made the other guy cry.” Junhee sat up and considered for a moment.

“That really does make me feel better, thank you,” he said. Yuchan finished packing his supplies and stood up.

“They finished pumping his stomach so you can go into the room now, but if you and Sehyoon-ssi get into another argument, I have to kick you both out,” he said seriously. Junhee nodded in understanding. Yuchan led him upstairs to the ICU and into room 515. Junhee almost sobbed when he saw the number.

“He should hopefully wake up within the next half an hour,” Yuchan explained, “I believe Sehyoon-ssi is still getting his nose bandaged so you’ll have some time alone.” Junhee thanked the nurse and made his way into the room. The sight of his best friend laying pale and still in a hospital bed nearly had him crying again.

“God, Donghunnie,” he whispered as he sat in the chair next to the bed, “I’m so sorry.”

=====

Sehyoon had known Byeongkwan since elementary school. The younger was three years younger than him, but he was still Sehyoon’s very first friend. They grew up together, practically inseparable, and it was only right that they go to the same university.

Byeongkwan had been the one that had received Sehyoon’s midnight pining rants when he saw Donghun for the first time. The younger boy was still a sophomore in high school, but Sehyoon trusted him more than anything. When the elder finally worked up the courage to ask Donghun out, he’d called Byeongkwan after and screamed down the phone for an entire minute.

Now, sitting on an exam table as he got his nose bandaged, Sehyoon watched with his good eye as Byeongkwan fought off a panic attack in the corner of the room and wondered how this had happened. He and Donghun had been so _happy_ , so _in love_ , so how had they grown so far apart?

Realistically, he knew why. They had had a fight, about finances again, and Sehyoon had walked out. He escaped to Byeongkwan’s and got drunk. When he’d woken up naked in his best friend’s bed the next day, he should’ve been terrified, but all he felt was...peace. Like the universe had finally clunked into place. He still loved Donghun, but he was in love with his best friend too. That was okay, right?  
Donghun was possessive though. Maybe not at face value, but he certainly didn’t like to share. Sehyoon couldn’t share this with him, or he’d risk losing him.

They’d been at it for almost nine months when Donghun finally caught them. Sehyoon was panicking. He was going to lose one of them and he wasn’t prepared for that at all. Donghun had surprised him though. And Sehyoon knew it wasn’t right to take a deal like that, knew that it must have hurt his husband more than he could ever know, but he was selfish.

He didn’t expect it to escalate the way it did once they were finally able to be open. He spent all his free time at Byeongkwan’s over the following six months, barely even realizing that he had practically moved in with him. He also didn’t realize that he had completely forgotten his and Donghun’s anniversary until Junhee, his husband’s best friend, had texted him that night. By that point, he was too scared to go home and apologize. Not scared of Donghun, but scared that Donghun wouldn’t be there.

And he wasn’t, by the time he finally got home. There was a note on the table, saying that Donghun was going to spend a few days at Junhee’s, that he needed some time to think.

They really hadn’t been having sex when Junhee had called. Sehyoon had avoided Byeongkwan for a few days before asking him out to dinner. He was going to call everything off. Donghun deserved someone who was going to pay attention to him, treat him like he deserved, and Sehyoon hadn’t been that person but he wanted to be.

He’d seen the call but hadn’t been fast enough to answer it. Junhee always left messages though, so he waited until he voicemail icon popped up and excused himself to the bathroom. Junhee was livid in his message, understandably so. Sehyoon’s blood ran cold when he heard the last sentence.

Donghun, his Donghun, had tried to...kill himself? This couldn’t be happening. He had practically sprinted out of the bathroom and had grabbed Byeongkwan, dropping some bills on the table to pay for their meal, and ran to his car.

Sehyoon deserved the broken nose, really. He absolutely had. And Byeongkwan had kind of deserved the nasty words Junhee had thrown at him as well. Maybe not the panic attack, but he certainly wasn’t blameless.

All Sehyoon could think about was the love of his life, pale and unconscious in a hospital bed. The nurse taping his nose had said that his stomach had been pumped and they were just waiting to see if he’d wake up. Acetaminophen and alcohol; a nasty combination.

By the time Sehyoon’s nose was all taped up, Byeongkwan had finally stopped crying. He was still sniffling a bit and his eyes were swollen and red, but maybe he deserved that too.

“No fighting,” the nurse warned them as he let them into Donghun’s room. Sehyoon didn’t miss the room number. Of fucking course. Taking a deep breath, he walked in, Byeongkwan shuffling behind him. Junhee was in the chair, bent over onto the bed with his head pillowed on his arms. He looked up to see who it was when the door opened, but he couldn’t even muster the energy to glare. Sehyoon could see the dried tracks on his cheeks where tears had been.

“They said he should wake up soon,” the blonde mumbled, “sorry I punched you.”

“I deserved it,” Sehyoon said as he took the other chair. Against what was probably his better judgment, he pulled Byeongkwan to sit on his lap, which did draw a glare from Junhee. There were no other chairs and the younger man always felt comforted best from touch.

All they could do now was wait.

=====

Donghun remembered the first time he had met Sehyoon. It was halfway through their first semester of freshman year. He’d been studying for his midterm in the campus cafe when the chair across from him had slid out and a nervous looking boy with jet black hair had sat down.

“I’m Sehyoon,” he had introduced himself shyly, “I keep seeing you here and I think you’re really pretty a-and I bought you a coffee and...I just want to get to know you. If that’s okay.” Donghun had smiled and accepted the coffee that the boy slid across the table. The boy ended up being just a few months younger than him and a good conversationalist once he got over his nerves. They officially started dating just two weeks later and Donghun didn’t think he could ever be happier.

It was surprising to him that his first boyfriend would also become his last. Not because he didn’t think that he and Sehyoon wouldn’t last but because he knew that college relationships just didn’t. They got married just a few weeks after graduation though and he just couldn’t stop smiling.

He wasn’t quite sure when Sehyoon had started sleeping with someone else, but he knew it was sometime around their fight. Neither of them had managed to get jobs in their fields yet and finances could be tight, especially going into winter. They had been fighting about money a lot. Donghun worked three part time jobs, but Sehyoon thought they would make more if he went full time on just one of them. The elder disagreed. With three part time jobs, he could work fifteen hours a day, but with one full time job, he could only work eight. Sehyoon had argued that a full time job would give them added benefits and more time to see each other. The fight had escalated and the younger had stormed out, no doubt going to Byeongkwan’s.

Donghun had noticed because of the hickeys. There weren’t many and they weren’t dark, but he never left marks on Sehyoon’s neck, not to mention that they hadn’t had sex in weeks. Maybe he was going crazy though. Maybe something had just hit Sehyoon in the neck! The younger didn’t say anything, so Donghun didn’t bring it up. If he was right, then he was likely to walk in on them at some point.

When he had walked in on them, it had hurt less than he expected. He really, really should’ve known. He hadn’t been able to say anything at first and when he was able to speak, he hadn’t expected to say what he did. Let it continue? Was he crazy? Then again, Sehyoon did say that Byeongkwan made him happy. And didn’t everyone always say that love was sacrificing your happiness for someone else? He could handle this. As long as he still had Sehyoon, he would be okay.

The hurt had manifested though. He shoved it down, willing for it to die, but it had just festered instead. Every time Sehyoon left the apartment, he became paranoid that the younger simply wouldn’t come back. It seemed like most of his clothes were at Byeongkwan’s now, and Donghun sometimes wouldn’t see him for days.

Realistically, he didn’t know why he even expected anything from Sehyoon for their anniversary. Maybe he had hoped that the younger was somewhat conscious of the hurt he was putting Donghun through. Sehyoon hadn’t shown though and that had been the last straw. Donghun couldn’t handle the pain anymore. He had cried himself to sleep, then woken up to pack a bag and spent his day off driving in circles until he realized that he was going to drive off a bridge.

Junhee had committed him once, in college. It was right after his mother had passed and he wasn’t handling it nearly as well as he thought. It had been a miserable experience and not one he ever wanted to repeat.

He was probably going to repeat it now. He knew he had really fucked up this time. The worst part was that he still didn’t know whether being committed or being dead was the better option.  
His head was pounding by the time he finally forced his eyes open and he groaned, shutting them immediately.

“Hyung!” he heard Junhee cry, “oh my god, you’re alive.” He felt someone cling onto his neck, tears soaking his gown as they sobbed out apologies. Byeongkwan? Why would Byeongkwan be apologizing to him? Another hand slipped into his and he squeezed. Sehyoon. At least his husband had shown up for something.

“Give him some space,” he heard an unfamiliar voice say. Sehyoon’s hand and Byeongkwan’s body both disappeared and he felt someone peeling open his eyelids. He groaned, lifting his hand to halfheartedly swat at them.

“That feels weird,” he grunted. He forced his eyes open on his own and saw a nurse hovering over him with a penlight in hand. The activity around him began to blur.

“Gonna take a nap,” he mumbled, already half asleep.

=====

When Donghun came to a few hours later, he was surprised to see just Sehyoon in the room. He had expected Junhee to not leave until he himself was released.

“Sehyoon-ah,” he called, lifting his hand to pet the younger’s hair only to find it trapped under his husband’s own hand. The younger groaned and lifted his head.

“You’re awake,” he said, keeping his voice low. Donghun nodded, blinking tiredly.

“I convinced Jun to take Byeongkwan home; they were both starting to freak out too much,” the younger explained, “I figured you’d probably want as little noise as possible.” Donghun nodded again. Now that Sehyoon was in front of him, he had no idea what to say.

“Hyung, I am _so sorry_ ,” Sehyoon said after a few moments of silence, “I should never have let you make that deal. I should never have slept with him in the first place. I...I don’t deserve you, at all.”

“It’s okay,” Donghun said quietly, but Sehyoon shook his head.

“It isn’t,” he said, “and I’ll never be able to make it up to you. You shouldn’t even let me try. I-I can serve myself papers or whatever you want.”

“No,” Donghun said firmly, “you’re right, it isn’t okay. It hurt so, so much. I -” his voice broke and he looked down, away from his husband, “I don’t even know what I did wrong for it to even start. But I do know that losing you, at this point, would be the worst thing. It wouldn’t be worth anything if I just let you go after all this.” His breathing was starting to pick up and Sehyoon was quick to take both of Donghun’s hands in his own.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said, “not anymore. Byeongkwan and I, we ended things. I’m going to spend the rest of my life making this up to you, okay? I promise.” Donghun shook his head, taking a deep, shaky breath.

“That’s not what I want,” he said, cheeks wet, “I don’t want to guilt trap you for the rest of our lives. I just...I just want to move on from all of this.” Sehyoon sat up, pulling his chair closer to the head of Donghun’s bed.

“Okay,” he said softly, “we’ll work on it. W-We can do couples therapy or whatever it’s gonna take. I’m gonna make sure we get past this, okay? I lo-”

“Don’t,” Donghun cut in, “don’t say it until you mean it again.” Sehyoon pursed his lips and nodded.

Instead of saying anything, he just leaned over and kissed Donghun’s forehead. He would fix this, no matter what.


End file.
